A basic approach to Growth Marketing (Part 4): What to ask when designing your website (checklist and frameworks)

In this part of my series, I cover the following

• Understanding your buyer (with a framework and checklist)
• Creating an empathy map (checklist with link to framework)
• Goals for your web/ digital property (checklist)
• Content assessment (checklist)
• Conversion and CTAs (checklist)
• Offers and urgency (checklist)
• Effectiveness of forms pages (checklist)

If you’d like a downloadable version of this checklist, reach out and I will share a version you can reuse.

Understanding your buyer

This is one of the most critical steps you need to complete in crafting a website. Who will you target? Trying to hit the bullseye with a blindfold on isn’t advisable!

• Who are your buyers?

Go beyond the basics to understand who would actually buy your product. Look at the different value propositions for relevant target segments.

• Which buyers will be receptive to your message?

And more importantly, which will ignore you no matter what you say. So which buyers should your messaging focus on and whom should you ignore?

• Which aspects of your solution are relevant to them?

Equally important is to understand is what is not relevant to each target segment. What concerns could cause your buyer to believe that your solution or company is not their best option?

• What is the kind of problem they are trying to solve?

What causes buyers to invest in a solution like yours? And how are they different from buyers who remain attached to the status quo? What outcomes/ results does your buyer expect from purchasing this solution? What is their ultimate goal? Outcomes could be operational or personal… create one for each persona. Use Jobs to be done as a way to uncover these.

What are their actual needs and pain points? How do they usually approach solving this problem? What is their first thought about this problem and solution? What is their “habit”? And what do they need to change with this habit to make progress to their desired outcome? Are we asking them to change their behaviour? Which attitudes prevent your buyers from considering your approach/ solution?

• What is pushing them to this? What is pulling them towards this as a solution?

What is their context? What is the outcome they are seeking and why should they choose this solution approach?

• What is their anxiety while trying to find this solution?

What information/ solution would they seek passively? What would they seek actively? What information would they require to make this decision? What could be the trade-offs they need to consider? What could hold them back from committing to a solution?

• Which resources will the buyer consult or trust as they evaluate their options? (media, analysts, peers, journals, fora, communities, etc)
• Who is involved in this decision and how influential are they? And how are the solutions evaluated? What does the actual decision process involve?
• Which aspects of the competing offerings do your buyers perceive as most useful/ critical? What expectations do these features address?

A good way to look at this this is with the 4DB Framework.

4 Dimensions of Behavior (4DB) Framework (Source)

Creating an empathy map

• What are the users trying to do here? What task are they trying to complete?
• What questions do they need answers to?
• What are their influences? What people, things, etc could influence how the user acts?
• How are they feeling about this experience?
• What really matters to them?
• What pain points might they be experiencing that they want to overcome?
• What is the user’s ultimate goal? What are they trying to achieve?

More on this section in my earlier post here. More also on CXL with insights from

Goals for the property

• What is the single focus for this site?

What are we asking the customer to do here? How could we make this clear(er)? Is the content easy to read? Is the path clear? Is the intent and offer visible and clear?

Effectiveness of information architecture and the content

• Is the information architecture consistent with other similar organizations in this industry?
• Is the intent of the website clear?
• Is the “mission” of the organization communicated clearly?
• Are use cases for each target customer segment clearly and visibly laid out and easy to access?
• What is the information that we need to communicate?
• Is it aligned to the relevant stage of the customer journey?
• Is there a clear funnelling process in place and have we tested it?
• Are we clear about where the customer should go next depending on their different stages of awareness and their interest?
• Is the design reinforcing and adding to my message/ communication?

Content assessment

• Does the header explain what the product/service is? (What is it that we do? How does it add value to the prospect or customer? What pain points/ outcomes can they target?)
• Does the header match the pre-click ad or SERP copy? (How did they get here? Is the process of discovery tracked? And is the discovery linked to the header?)
• Does the content clearly call out who the product/service is for? (This is essential for each page)
• Is there a clear, visually dominant page goal that leads further into the funnel? (Where should they go next from here?)
• Does the content focus on the acquisition of the desired outcome or the elimination of pain points?
• Are these desires/pain points described clearly? Are we describing these specifically?
• Does the content clearly bridge the product/service to these the acquisition of these desires?
• Does the content clearly explain what advantages the product/service has over other existing solutions?
• Does the content support claims of these advantages with objective proof points?
• Does the content support claims of these advantages with clear demonstrations and/or previews?
• Does the content include endorsements from customers who fit the target market?
• Does the content include endorsements from high-profile media?
• Does the content include impressive metrics that summarize the product’s popularity? Are these testimonials/endorsements easily verifiable?
• Does the content offer any guarantees or other reassurances to minimize perceived risk?
• Does the content clearly address conversion-critical questions from prospects?

Conversion and CTAs

• Have we got the right CTA at each stage of the customer journey?
• Is the CTA aligned to the outcome the prospect is looking for at each stage?
• Does it focus on the value for the prospect/ customer?
• Is the CTA the most visually dominant element?
• Does the CTA make it clear what the customer/ prospect will get upon converting?

Offers and urgency

• Have we created/ crafted an offer to consciously maximize value and minimize cost? (both the visuals and textual content should reflect this)
• Does the offer include any time-sensitive incentives to increase the urgency to act?

Effectiveness of forms pages

• Does the form ask for the least amount of information required to complete the transaction or qualify a lead?
• Is the layout of the input fields as simple as possible?
• Are the labels for each inpout field easy to read and always visible?
• Are input field formats carefully chosen to minimize errors and effort?
• Does the form clearly and visibly explain what the user error is, where it is located, and how to fix it?
• Does the form avoid making the user start again if there’s an error?
• Does the page include trust icons/logos for secure payment, etc. that bolsters the confidence of the customer?
• Does the form include a way to get help if payment isn’t working?
• Does the form include some content that helps bolster the confidence & interest of the user at the moment of purchase? (maybe a testimonial, a detailed list of what you’re getting, a guarantee, etc.)

If you’d like a downloadable version of this checklist, please reach out and message me and I will send it along.